


The Major & The Doll

by KnifingGale



Category: Violet Evergarden (Anime)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous relationship for 1st Chapter, Colorblind Soulmate AU, F/M, Open requests, Protective Gilbert Bougainvillea, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-21 10:38:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14283132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnifingGale/pseuds/KnifingGale
Summary: Bougainvillea.The name had branded him as one of them, and with that came sacrifices that Gilbert hadn’t known until he had met her.





	1. Her eye, his own Part I

He once remembered staring into his mother’s eyes- _emerald was it? He wouldn’t know. He couldn’t, after all_ \- as she talked to him about something involving his performance with the tutors.

“Gilbert,” She said fondly, noticing the blatant curiosity in his eyes.

“What is emerald, mother?” He asked quietly with questions in his eyes. Were his own eyes this ‘emerald’ like his mother’s? What of his brother and father?

Gilbert could only see in this monochrome that many talked of. The constantly mentioned word ‘colors’ was often spoken about at dinner with the guests his father invited.

His mother smiled fondly, “It’s a shade of green, light with a tint of blue.”

Gilbert mulled over this as he tried to understand what ‘green’ and ‘blue’ actually was. His tutors had talked about it, but he just couldn’t quite grasp it.

“Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t see colors, Gilbert?” He silently nodded, knowing that she would continue, “This isn’t something often talked about in the Bougainvillea. But it is something you should know nonetheless.”

“Will Father approve?”

His mother’s smile faltered lightly, “That doesn’t matter.”

Her words came with a momentary silence that stretched long and thin in the quiet sunroom in the estate.

“Soulbonds are something that links you to your soulmate. The various kinds of soulbonds vary from case to case, normally. However, the Bougainvillea family is the exception to this.” His mother paused, her eyes searching. Not sharp, but soft in the way unlike that of his father’s, “Our family has always had the soulbond that involved colorblindness. We are cursed with it until we have met with our soulmate.”

 _Soulmate_.

That word, he thought. It was often talked about with the maids who often dared to look his father’s guests-military men, mostly- in the eyes with their own full of hope.

“Mother,” Gilbert breathed out, “What is a soulmate?”

And for once, she was at a loss for words.

_(They didn’t dare touch on the subject of soulmates afterward.)_

* * *

It was when he was sixteen did Gilbert learn a simple truth in his life. It was when his father had pulled him aside from a lesson on military history.

The words that came out of the man’s mouth weren’t unexpected. In fact, it seemed almost rehearsed. The man had most likely made this same conversation with his brother when he was the same age as Gilbert.

_“We’ll never be free, brother.”_

* * *

_Bougainvillea_.

The name had branded him as one of them, and with that came sacrifices that Gilbert hadn’t known until he had met her.

The girl with wild locks of hair stared up at him from the underneath the cloth covering her frame. It was only when his brother made those snide and cruel remarks and shoved the girl did Gilbert touch the girl. His hand lightly grasped the girl’s thin wrist and pulled her close, protectively so as he glared at his brother.

“She’s just a child.”

“It is a weapon.” Gilbert’s arms around the girl tightened lightly, mindful of the girl’s state though, he looked down only to freeze.

A shock that swept through his vision. A light, rich color that he didn’t know how to describe-

 

His mouth dried at the sudden influx of colors flooding into his vision. He could see the luxurious red carpet underneath his feet.

Her eyes startled him…

No, it wasn’t just the color. It was the blankness in them.

As he briefly thought of this, another truth seeped in- _this one not as simple_ -

_She was his soulmate._

* * *

He had taken her in.

 _Violet_.

He had named her-not ‘it’ never ‘it’- ‘Violet’ because he knew that she deserved a name. He may have deprived her of so many things by following orders, but he would give her this, regardless of the disapproval.

He had dragged her into this godforsaken war, for his country and himself. His selfishness couldn’t bear to let her go because a part of him knew that he would never see her again.

Never would know if she was safe or not, he thought. Or whether she would be accepted.

 _That’s right_ , he thought. The society of his country wouldn’t accept the orphan girl that was brought under his care.

And so with each and every battle, he watched her kill and kill and kill-

And there was no stop to it. He couldn’t tell her to stop, not with his own men being saved by the lives she took and his country being saved from the enemy.

Gilbert knew that, despite the doll-like face she held up, the girl had feelings.

She had a heart somewhere. And that was how he knew that one day she would end up burning the same way he was.

As she slit the throat of an enemy soldier, Gilbert burned.

_(The thought of her eventually burning from what she-no they had done only stoked the flames burning him.)_

* * *

At one point amongst the battles that raged on, Gilbert managed to find the time to teach Violet his country’s language and about the colors. It was odd for someone so young to have the ability to know colors.

“A...Aqua-marine,” she said brokenly with a rather flat tone, as she pointed to her own eyes.

“Yes,” he said with an approving tone, accompanied by a nod in her direction, “And green?”

A finger pointed at his eyes as she stared into them, “Green, Major.” 

* * *

 

“Why don’t you get the one that’s the same color as your eyes?” He asked her, wondering why she chose the emerald one. She only paused and turned to look at him.

“It is..beautiful like the lady said.” The word ‘beautiful’ fell from her lips as if it was her first time saying it, “Like your eyes...they are beautiful.”

Gilbert paused, something in his chest stuttering.

She grasped the brooch in her hand, “Emerald.” 

* * *

 

Aquamarine eyes blurred as they were filled to the brim with tears. Gilbert couldn’t choke back both the guilt and delight at the display of emotion. And so she feels, he thought.

_‘I’m sorry, Violet.’_

That would be one of his last thoughts. But he could not die like this. Not with the sheer desperation of not being able to tell her haunting him even more than the blinding pain in his eye and stomach.

“I love you,” he choked out, the blood was everywhere even in his mouth with its metallic tang. Violet-his soulmate- froze and she shuddered.

“I-I don’t know what that means, Major!” Her fists were clenched tight, “Please tell what love means-”

A series of deafening sounds overshadowed her following words, and Gilbert only had several seconds to force back the pain and pull her against his chest.

The shock of her aquamarine eyes staring back up at him made him briefly smile until a force slammed into his back.

And he no longer saw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I debated with myself over the decision on writing and posting this. But there is just too little stories in this fandom and I do love Soulmate AUs. I know this characterization in this may be poor, but I tried my best. I hope that perhaps you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading!


	2. Her eye, his own Part II

* * *

_“What's a soul mate?”_

_“It's uh... Well, it's like a best friend, but more. It's the one person in the world that knows you better than anyone else. It's someone who makes you a better person. Actually, they don't make you a better person, you do that yourself because they inspire you. A soulmate is someone who you carry with you forever. It's the one person who knew you and accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did or when no one else would. And no matter what happens, you'll always love her. Nothing can ever change that...”_

__\- Dawson’s Creek_ _

* * *

“Do-” Leon cut himself off, his tongue suddenly heavy as he tried to force the words out, “Did you find them?”

“Who is ‘them’?” She inquired with a blank, doll-like face. Blonde locks of hair framing her face as aquamarine eyes stared back at him.

“You know...your soulmate,” he said rather awkwardly, inwardly cursing his rather blunt and awkward way of asking about such a personal matter. Leon knew that Violet Evergarden wasn’t his soulmate. His soulmate had left him a long time ago.

But, he knew that one could find happiness without their soulmate. He had to believe the simple truth, after all. Otherwise, there was no hope.

“What is a ‘soulmate’?” Violet asked with confused eyes, a puff of air appeared in front of her as she spoke those words.

“Y-You don’t know what a soulmate is?” Leon blurted out in shock. What kind of person was she to have never learned what a soulmate was? Although, the better question may be what exactly she had gone through.

“Is it a mate of the soul?” He couldn’t help but laugh at her question. ‘Mate of the soul’ was a rather cute way of referring to a soulmate.

“In a sense, yes. Soulmates usually love each other,” Leon admitted. However, it was all so much more complicated than that. Just where should I even begin, he thought, “There are different kinds of soulmates: platonic, romantic, and sometimes ambiguous truly in nature- ”

“Love,” Violet stated suddenly, her hand suddenly gripped at the emerald brooch adorning her outfit. The light of the heavens casting down starlight upon them had made the light reflect off the emerald brooch in an almost hypnotic way, “What does it mean?”

Leon felt his mouth dry as he found himself at a loss for words. For once, he could not answer the simple question with a true, honest answer.

“Major told me that he loved me,” Her gloved hands grasped the fabric of her dress tightly, “But I do not know what that means. All I know is that I can only see color in my right eye.”

 _Color_.

Leon froze at the doll’s words. He had heard of only one family in the entire continent that had the suspected soulbond that involved color. The reason he knew was only due to the olden manuscript detailing the noble families in the continent and their most common soulbonds. The _Bougainvillea_ were the only ones ever to have the colorblind soulbond in every single one of their members, discounting those who married a member of the noble family who wasn’t soulmates with them.

 _It can’t be_ , he thought.

His eyes strayed to the aquamarine eyes staring into the sky with questions burning in them. Should he even tell her? From what he heard of this ‘Major,’ he was long gone. It could make things even more-

Leon’s shoulders slumped as he debated on his course of action. If he were in her shoes, Leon would have wanted someone-anyone- to tell him.

 _She has a right to know_ , he thought determinedly.

“This ‘Major’ of yours,” Leon paused as Violet’s eyes snapped to his in rapt attention, “I think he is your soulmate.”

The girl in front of him trembled lightly, “But I do not know love.”

“But-” Leon forcefully cut himself off, trying to word himself right, “It sounds like you love him.”

Violet froze, a tremulous silence filled the cold, night air between them as the heavens loomed above. It was only when cries of surprise and delight that Leon looked up to see the comet.

_(Leon didn’t dare bring up the matter again. Perhaps, the next they met, it would be a simple, peaceful time under the stars as their reunion.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was just a bit of insight into Violet's side of things in this Soulmate AU. Also, I wanted to write Leon as being the one to finally explain to Violet some of the things about soulbonds and soulmates. Well, I promise you all that the next chapter will contain a reunion. I hope that you perhaps enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow, so keep an eye out for it being posted sometime tomorrow. One more thing I would like to say is thank you so much to all who left kudos, especially those who took the time to leave comments. It means a lot, so thank you! Well, thanks for reading!


	3. Her eye, his own Part III

A gloved hand clutched the leather handle of the typewriter case as the other began to turn the doorknob.

"Violet,” a familiar voice said. The said woman turned to face Hodgins who only sighed. Aquamarine eyes stared innocently back at him.

“I am aware of what day it is. Are you sure that you want to take this commission? Besides, Cattleya and I will be traveling with you...” he trailed off after Violet smiled and shook her head.

“I know the Major is alive,” her eyes were stubborn in a reflection of her belief in the fact, “I will continue my duties as an Auto Memories doll and follow the Major’s order.”

_“Live and be free, Violet.”_

The former soldier’s face almost looked pained as he opened his mouth to protest only to once again sigh, “If that is your decision, then I have no choice but to agree.”

“The train is leaving in thirty minutes, Lieutenant Colonel.” She said aloud, “I will be securing the perimeter before our departure.” Hodgins didn’t even bother to talk the girl down from doing so. Violet had become rather protective after the incident involving the train, especially after hearing the recent news about the active cells of Gardarik terrorists in the country.

“Until then, Little Violet.”

* * *

 

A lone emerald eye stared down balefully at the letters in his hand with mixed emotions. Guilt, Fear, and last but not least Love.

“Forgive me, Violet,” he said into the silent air of the empty train car. The entire car had been booked for the high-ranking officers attending the summit. The ongoing issue of the Gardarik terrorist cells had led to the government invoking the military to settle the matter.

Gloved hands tightened minutely around the parchment at the thought of the terrorists. He could trust Hodgins to take care of her. But that didn’t stop Gilbert from worrying himself over the girl.

 _She’s going to be the death of me_ , he thought fondly. A light sort of amusement came from the thought of Violet’s reaction to him saying that thought out loud. She would take it literally, of course.

He would only know if she knew the truth.

His smile faded at the word ‘ _if_ ’ It would be best if she never knew that he was alive. Violet wouldn’t be the child soldier waiting to obey her Major’s orders nor a weapon but a _person_.

From what he heard, she was currently an Auto-Memories doll who helped people convey their true feelings into letters. One might call Violet being in her occupation as ironic. But, Gilbert knew that it was fitting.

“She finally learned,” Gilbert breathed out, exhaling out the emotions he felt at the realization in a heavy sigh.

_“From the bottom of my heart, I love you, Violet.”_

Those words spilled from his lips in the act of sheer desperation and fear that she would never know. Did she now understand the meaning behind his words?

_“I-I don’t understand, Major!”_

“Missing a lover, Major?” An all too familiar, teasing voice interrupted his thoughts. The officer glanced up from his seat by the car’s window to see his expected comrade in formal dress. Aiguillettes similarly decorated his shoulders to Gilbert’s own ceremonial uniform.

“Nathan,” Gilbert greeted in turn, ignoring his fellow officer’s question, “I take it the others will arrive soon.”

The mischevious smirk- that was akin to a cat who caught the canary- morphed into a concerned frown, “There was an issue with the security of the station. A delay had to be scheduled in. I’m surprised no one informed you of this.”

Gardarik terrorists were the apparent cause of the issue with security. Gilbert had confirmed with the higher-ups that the train posed as an active target for the terrorists. “I was informed of it to a certain extent.”

“I see,” Nathan acknowledged lightly before narrowing his eyes, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

There were a dozen answers that Gilbert could have given the pesky and nosy man, but only one came out, “Yes, I miss her.”

The officer standing in front of him chuckled with lace tags swaying lightly before pausing at the light glare thrown his way, “What? It’s not everyday one gets to see a lovesick Bougainvillea.”

Seeing that the man wasn’t going to reply, Nathan added, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

Something in Gilbert prickled at the words. Nathan was acting like a bastard as usual, but he was...off.

_Oh, how the mighty have fallen._

Why...why did that sound oh so familiar?

The question lingered in his mind as emerald eyes strayed to the bustling crowd outside the station. Security must have been a nightmare as one could not simply close off one of the busiest port of transportation in the country. The Head of Security must have just ‘winged it’ and tried to minimize the likely risks.

The platform the train waited at was empty with several benches filling up the space as well as a lamppost. At least it was until a lone figure- _feminine in their appearance_ \- walked up to the bench closest to his left with a large case in hand.

As they sat down the bench, the figure, face framed by blonde hair, looked straight at him with shocking aquamarine eyes. Widened emerald eyes connected with ethereal blue for the briefest of a moment.

Gilbert’s heart stuttered in his chest.

_It couldn’t be-_

“Violet,” he breathed out in awe and horror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, there's a reunion in this chapter. Also, if there is anything you would like to see (AUs, prompts, song based fics, etc), feel free to put in a request in the comments section or through the ask box in my tumblr blog that has the same username as my ao3 username. Well, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I always appreciate the kudos and comments that y'all leave on here, so thank you very much for that! Anyway, I'll try to have the next part up soon. Thanks for reading!


	4. Her eye, his own Part IV

Benjamin "Ben" Richardson knew that accompanying the CH Postal Company was perhaps not the wisest of decisions. With all the talk about Gardarik terrorists, a train station was bound to be a prime target.

However, Ben was never one to let good business pass by untouched.

Besides, he thought, trying to convince himself. What were the chances of an attack on the very train station they were going to depart at?

Famous last words, his mother would have said if she knew about the rather precarious situation he put himself in.

As Ben arrived at the platform the clients of the CH Postal Company and himself were supposed to board the train at, he couldn't help but notice the lone girl on the bench.

And the military officer at the window, he added silently. It wasn't anything strange really. With the ongoing situation with the terrorists in the country, it wasn't peculiar for an officer of his apparent status to take notice of his surroundings.

Ben supposed that it was the look in those emerald eyes. One of longing, sadness, and guilt. A strange mix, it was. One that someone dull wouldn't notice.

Ben wasn't anything but dull in his deduction.

"Mr. Benjamin," A feminine voice called out, interrupting his thoughts, "I apologize for the delay. Security was particularly troublesome to get through."

He turned to face a woman in fitting, red clothing with a large briefcase in hand. Like the one that girl is holding, Ben noted.

"It's fine," he dismissed easily, waving off the ten minutes he had spent waiting apparently. Losing track of time was a terrible habit of his.

"Is that girl over there associated with your business?" he inquired politely, gesturing slightly to the girl sitting on the bench with a large brown case held by gloved hands.

The woman's face brightened, "Yes, she is." she said easily, "An Auto Memories doll and one of our finest at that." she said rather proudly.

"I see," Ben replied, trying to downplay his interest by feigning nonchalance. It would be rather strange of him to express such sudden interest in the girl. He really shouldn't be taking such interest in a random girl in the first place.

But, he thought. Being a translator was a tedious job, and it left little to no room for interesting things.

This girl on the bench was proving to be interesting.

A long stretch of silence settled in the air as himself, and the woman waited for the last passenger to arrive.

"Mr. Hodgins," Ben greeted formally with a nod in his direction, "I hope your commute here was without incident."

"It was," The President of the CH Postal Company replied easily before pausing, "Being a former soldier does have its perks at times."

"I would imagine so." Claudia Hodgins chuckled at that, as Ben shifted lightly. The art of casual conversation did not suit him at times, especially when it came to interacting with clients, "Shall we board the train now, sir?"

"We'll likely have to wait until the military officers arrive." he shrugged. No use in rushing then, Ben thought.

"Military officers?" Ben questioned, his curiosity getting the better of him. Best to make a conversation out of curiosity than the awkward formality or forced politeness.

Hodgins nodded, "A summit will be taking place tomorrow and high-ranking military officers as well as the higher ups there are being called upon." A prickle of unease traveled down Ben's spine. High-ranking military officers on the very train they were going on-

"Claudia, you're scaring the poor man." The woman said lightly with a sympathetic glance directed at Ben.

"What, Cattleya? He has a right to know. The man's traveling with us, after all." The redhead scratched his head rather sheepishly at the glare the woman, Cattleya, leveled at him.

Ben's eyes flitted rather nervously between the train and the crowd. His body was tense, and his mouth was beginning to dry.

A target, he thought as the realization finally dawned upon him. Ben was about to board a target with a very literal bullseye painted on it as the military officers served as.

No, he corrected himself. He was already in the middle of the target. It was the entire platform.

By the time he realized this, it was all too late.

And then all hell broke loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to have a lot of action in it, when compared to previous chapters, so be warned. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	5. Her eye, his own Part V

Benjamin didn't know when it quite began.

All that heralded that one defining moment was a loud crack in the air. Deafening, bloody screaming of the crowd soon followed. Air was knocked from his chest as he slammed into the ground. Ben wheezed for several moments, and he felt arms force him down against the platform.

Only then did he finally begin to struggle only for a familiar voice to hiss down at him, "Stay low."

Hodgins, he realized. The man had tackled him to the ground at the sound of...what?

Ben glanced across the platform to see motionless bodies lying crumpled at the feet of men stalking toward their own platform. He took note of the weapons in their hands.

Gunshots, it had been. Benjamin had never heard gunshots before. Working away from the battlefield as a translator for the interrogation side of things as well as assisting in the handling of prisoners of war did bring inexperience such as that.

In the heat of the moment, his flitting mind jumped from one thing to another until it finally settled on one thing oddly enough.

The girl, Ben thought.

Much to his surprise, he saw the familiar attire of the Auto Memories Doll dashing towards one of the encroaching men. A glint of something metallic made his eyes catch on the two things in her arms- _Prosthetics_ , he realized. How odd for a woman to have such things.

As Ben felt arms hauling him away from the scene, his eyes couldn't help but stay fixed in both awe and horror at the deadly dance the girl was performing. A hand struck the man's throat, making him wheeze and crumple to the ground.

The gunshot that sounded through the air whizzed by her as she slid suddenly to the side, somehow still smooth and poised. A soldier, she was.

As Hodgins got him to the opposing platform, Ben caught one last glimpse of the soldier maiden. She had just dodged a bullet quite literally and had taken refuge at one of the fenced bed gardens lying at the rim of the platform facing the main entrance to the station. Before anyone could react, she aimed the rifle as if part of her own body and fired.

A loud shot cracked in the air, and a body fell to the ground.

Ben felt himself finally be hauled behind the train as shelter from the situation at hand.

"Stay here," Hodgins said sharply with a gun of all things in hand. Ben could only nod helplessly as the President of CH Postal Company entered the battle.

Still, like the war, Ben still felt isolated and distant from the situation. It was like he was detached from it all and only a bystander to watch and observe. Perhaps, that sensation had him ducking to one of the fenced bed gardens to his side and peeking above the brick fencing.

Gunshots were a continuous thing apparently, he thought. Much to Ben's disappointment, there was no high from the action of it all. _How unfortunate_ , he thought.

Where were all the glory, danger, and gore that was heralded and touted by the weathered veterans that survived the war?

And that was when he noticed _**it**_.

The gun being leveled at him by a man only several feet away from him.

Ben's heart stuttered, and he felt himself freeze like a deer in the headlights. Helpless, he could only watch in horror as the man-a terrorist by the looks of it- was only seconds from pulling the trigger.

And then _she_ came.

The soldier maiden came out of nowhere, and a metal hand slammed against the barrel of the rifle. A crack rang out, and nothing akin to a hot punch hit him.

A split second later, Ben felt something wet run down his ear. His breathing became ragged and panicked as he shakily put a hand to his ear. A hiss escaped him as he felt the damage. Trying to make sure, he felt the rest of his hand.

 _A graze_ , he thought with relief. The bullet had only grazed him.

Ben smiled in relief and was about to thank the doll-like girl who saved his life when another shot rang out.

It was one that stood out from all others.

Crimson landed on him as her head knocked back. The yellow of her blonde hair became dyed with crimson, making a disgusting and wrong color.

Ben scrambled back, trying to find cover from what was apparently a sniper. His savior had just been shot, and he had no weapon to defend himself. A bullet whizzed by him, hitting the brick fencing of the decorative garden.

A mumbled prayer escaped his lips at the realization that another bullet was bound to hit him eventually. In a panicked and desperate attempt to flee for safety, Ben eyed the train's entrance. If he could just make it in time-

His body tensed, and Ben counted to three.

_1, 2, 3-_

He sprung out from his hiding place and made for a mad dash to the train only to for a force to tackle him to the ground.

_Nonononno-_

A crack rang out.

The warm body above jolted once, and Benjamin felt something wet and warm on his hands. He glanced up to see a pained aquamarine eye stare down at him, and only one word escaped her lips.

"Ma...jor."

Benjamin could have sworn he heard a 'Forgive me' as well, but shock rang through him like a rogue wave.

Making a scrambled prayer for forgiveness for what he was about to do, Ben pushed the girl off and barely had time to wince at the gritted, pained noise she made. He ran until he was at the entrance of the train and threw himself into it, crashing onto the floor.

Ben breathed raggedly as he still felt shock coarse through him as well as a morbid sort of excitement. _So this was how soldiers felt in war_ , he thought, understanding it all know.

Taking one last gulp of air, Ben finally picked himself up from the floor while still lying low in consideration of the windows.

He looked ahead only to see blazing emerald eyes glare down at him-

And find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.


	6. Rule 1

_"...That time, even the guys in my corps would comment non-stop on how cute you were. There was actually one that set off to make a move on you, but he didn’t come back before the strategy commenced… hey, did you do something to him?”_

_"Or maybe that superior officer took care of him?"_

**- _Edward Jones_ ; Chapter 5 of the Violet Evergarden Light Novel Series**

* * *

James Wilson was no stranger to the idiocy of others around him. He practically choked on the idiocy of the antics his siblings had concocted. However, he thought with disbelief.

This was on an entirely different level.

Being the fair man he was, James tried to warn the idiots that were his comrades. They were his brothers-in-arms and they were part of the same corps, after all.

"I'm telling you," James tried to warn them in exasperation soon melding into his words, "This is a bad idea."

"C'mon, Jamie. Don't be a stiff here. The girl's cute, and it wouldn't do any harm to-" Ah, yes. There was dumb and dumber in his corps, specifically Erik and Samson.

"But-"

"That superior she keeps on clinging to isn't around..." Samson trailed off.

A prickle of unease traveled up James' spine, and it was not only due to his comrades' rather inappropriate talk about the young girl. If that Major- _a **Bougainvillea** , he had heard_\- were to find out, well...

Frankly, there would be hell to pay most likely.

If history had proven anything, it was that one was to never piss off a Bougainvillea.

"Exactly! We'll approach her first..." Dumber, also known as Samson, proceeded to elaborate in detail on his "battle plan" for getting the girl.

Just as James Wilson was about to say that the two buffoons in front of him were being more than moronic in their talk and actions, a voice cut him off from doing so.

"Private Samson," an all too familiar voice addressed tersely, something unmistakable inside the voice, "May we have a word?"

"Sir-"

"In private." The direct order in the statement was sharp and very much apparent. The soldiers in the tent straightened up and obeyed his order.

"Yes, sir." James finally remembered to salute and hastily left the tent with a sigh of relief. He took one last glance at the tent with the two silhouettes talking under the light of the lamp.

He shrugged. To each man his own, James thought with no particular remorse. Dumber brought this on himself, and he could only hope that Erik would get a similar treatment.

James Wilson saw a rather shaken Samson the next morning at the mess tent. The formerly obnoxious man was now tight-lipped and skittish about anything involving 'Bougainvillea'.

Even the damn flowers James himself received from his wife spooked the man when he caught sight of them.

It was a surprising sight to see Samson himself try to talk down Erik from approaching the girl. However, "Dumb" would not be deterred from his goal, only proving to be furthermore stubborn from his comrade's "cowardice and failure". The man could call it whatever he wanted, but James acknowledged it as simply self-preservation.

"I'm going to do it," Erik declared boastfully, greedily soaking up the stares of disbelief directed at him. He was beginning to be the talk of the camp as he was soon seen as 'a dead man walking'.

One soldier- _the only one with a musical instrument in the camp_ \- decided to be rather dramatic and play the funeral rites for soldiers on his violin.

"It was an honor fighting with you," Samson bade farewell to Erik, who only chuckled at his friend's dramatics.

"I'll be back after dinner," Erik said, winking. James nearly gagged at the display and tried to down the sensation with the bitter coffee that was served every damn morning in the camp.

It was to no one's surprise that Erik didn't make it back. The battle was soon to commence and the man was nowhere to be seen.

As such, it was fairly easy for certain conclusions to be drawn.

Many, if not all, of which involved a certain Major.

An overprotective one at that, James added.

It soon became an unspoken rule that was passed down through the corps, from unit to unit, that one should never mess with the Major's girl.

The spread of this one essential rule saved men who could have gone MIA. Sadly, it was far too late for Erik...

And Erik "Dumb"?

Well, he was never heard from again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a little something I wrote after reading what Edward Jones said in Ch. 5 of the Light Novel Series of Violet Evergarden. Protective Gilbert, anyone? Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!


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